Small House of Everything

Small House of Everything

Thursday, April 26, 2018

SUSPENSE: WET SATURDAY

The classic radio program Suspense began in 1942 with a broadcast of John Dickson Carr's The Burning Court with Charlie Ruggles and Julie Hayden.  To follow that, the second episode (airing on June 24, 1942) was an adaptation of John Collier's "Wet Saturday," a classic story from The New Yorker and later collected in the author's Fancies and Goodnights.  These first two episodes set a template for quality for the 20-year run of the radio program.

It's a rainy Saturday and the Princey family was staying in, so they were home when the curate stopped by...and was killed by Millicent Princey because he had no interest in marrying her.  The head of the family, Frederick Princey, rightly does not want all the fuss and bother that comes with a murdered curate.  The question is how to get rid of the body, or, failing that, how to find someone else to blame.

The story -- with the same script adapted by Harold Medford -- was presented two further times:  on December 16, 1943 (starring Charles Laughton) and on March 20, 1948 (starring Dennis Hoey).    The original broadcast featured Clarence Derwent and was produced and direct by Charles Vanda.

Enjoy.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL3oPhVWtWc&list=PLvu2oOrWFl_NykNNccUdjcSUFk0tuXPkG

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